


two can keep a secret

by transagent8



Series: agent 8 goggles [2]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Octo Expansion DLC, can be read as ship but it's not explicitly supposed to be, im just very soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-28 05:06:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18749602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transagent8/pseuds/transagent8
Summary: it's hard to know that you care.(agent 3 spends the time letting his shoulder heal thinking and observing.)





	two can keep a secret

Rider doesn’t have a lot to do when Goggles is doing the tests - the weird crab with plushies tells him not to roll his aching shoulder so much, when he notices him doing that, telling him it won’t help the injury. And that’s kind of all he does for a while; get told not to irritate an injury that he wishes was gone already.

Rider debates going to the station platform to wait for Goggles, but he’d rather not stand there with a sea slug with a hat staring at him. His only real option is to talk to Iso Padre, most often. And if the squid seems awkward, the crustacean just seems amused by it.

He talks to Goggles on the train, and before tests; the conversations don’t consist of much for a while. Rider asks Goggles about their situation, they have a short conversations about the test they’re at, Goggles asks him questions about something unrelated to  _ anything _ going on around them. It’s easier on the train, but not much; Rider still mainly asks about the tests, talks about the weapon choices Goggles uses.

The octoling takes a liking to  _ chargers _ , of all things. Granted, it’s not the only weapon he likes using - Rider’s watched Goggles pick the Splattershot every single time he sees it, without fail, and he’s  _ good _ with it. He picks the guns more often than anything else - Rider questions why, and Goggles sounds oddly cheerful when he admits he likes them

(A few tests later, Goggles will tell him they’re  _ familiar _ , even if he can’t bring any actual memory of using one forward. He remembers that much. It’s better than nothing.)

Eventually, Rider lets Goggles’ questions lead the conversation; tries not to direct the conversation to weapons, explains as best he can most of the things Goggles asks about. Goggles asks about  _ everything _ ; things he’s heard other passengers talk about, mostly, but he asks about Marina and Pearl when they start talking to them, because Rider admits he knows of them.

If anyone had told Rider he’d be talking to two idols while stuck underground with an octarian without a memory before, he’s pretty sure he would’ve smacked them with his dynamo, but here he is.

And as much as Rider just tells himself he’s relying on Goggles out of necessity over anything else - he’d do the damn tests himself if he hadn’t pulled a muscle or something - he starts to care about the blue octoling. Because of course he does.

He looks  _ exhausted _ after the tests, sometimes covered in the green octarian’s ink, sometimes with scratches or scrapes that heal relatively quickly. And Rider knows the smaller cephalopod has to be hungry too if he is.

(When he tries to bring it up to Iso Padre, he doesn’t know which is worse; admitting he’s hungry because he’s been underground for way too long, or admitting he’s concerned about Goggles being hungry too. Rider regrets admitting the latter to any degree - fuck him and his pride - because the old crab  _ teases _ him about being worried and the agent kind of wants to fight him for a moment.)

One of the times, Rider physically stops Goggles from going to the next test, with how tired he looks. The blue octopus blinks at him, eyes drifting to the CQ-80 that’d been removed from his grasp before slightly lighter blue eyes turn back to meet green ones. “Huh?” Goggles says, eloquently. Rider rolls his eyes.

“You look ready to keel over,” he tells him simply, breathing out a sigh when Goggles rubs his eyes. “Take a nap or something.”

“Um.” Goggles stretches his arms over his head, releasing his own soft huff of air. “I don’t know if I can.”

“Try,” Rider tells him, eyes wanting to roll to the ceiling of the train again. “Even if you close your eyes and rest it’ll do better than running yourself t’ the ground.”

The octopus gives a small hum in response, hand coming up to rub his eye again, muffle a yawn behind a fist hardly a moment later. “I guess,” he says, moving to try and relax back into the seat. Rider releases another small huff of air, turning to leave Goggles to try and rest on his own.

Upon feeling a weight on his shoulder, he jerks, feeling himself tense instinctively while snapping his head back to the shorter boy.

“What,” he says, struggling to find the right words to convey his confusion. “Why.”

Goggles blinks, all innocent and tired, almost oblivious to the flush crossing Rider’s face even though he can  _ feel  _ it happening, dammit. “Sleeping?” he replies, and Rider can’t tell if he’s genuinely unaware of why this is embarrassing or if he’s just messing with the green squid.

“You don’t have to sleep on  _ me _ ,” Rider answers. The octoling blinks at him for a moment, then settles against him more, and the inkling scowls even though his face is boiling.

“You’re warm,” Goggles defends himself, blue-green eyes settling shut. He’s moved his pilot goggles to rest around his neck while he naps, and Rider can’t help but find it odd to see him with them off his forehead for the first time.

The squid tries to find a way to protest this, but just ends up giving in with a sigh, leaning back into the seat himself while Goggles curls into his side, pulling his legs up to rest on the empty seat next to him. It doesn’t take long at all for Goggles to drift off, and Rider waits a moment to make sure he  _ is _ asleep before carefully undoing the clasp keeping his cape around his neck so he can slide the fabric over the octoling like a blanket instead.

So Rider cares about Goggles. Someone needs to. Sue him.

(If Rider is asleep when Goggles wakes up, slightly leaning on the octoling as well, he doesn’t say anything to the inkling about it later.)

**Author's Note:**

> this is. basically just rider, being vaguely soft  
> i really!!! love this au, actually, haha. i wanna write it more but i have a hard time getting concrete ideas for it past "i want to talk about agent 8 goggles and never shut up" so thats why if i write more it's probably all only vaguely connected to each other  
> im sorry it's so short tho i just wrote it in a small burst of inspiration  
> pls feel free to comment or leave constructive criticism! i love hearing what people think of my writing, it fuels me


End file.
